Protect Our Clothes from PFAS Act

This bill changes how certain imported clothes are labeled as “water resistant” for tariff (import tax) purposes. Right now, to count as water resistant, a garment must pass a water test and the water resistance must come from a rubber or plastic coating on the fabric. The bill keeps the water test but removes the rule that the water resistance must come from rubber or plastic. This could make it easier to use other treatments, including options that avoid certain chemicals, while still meeting the water-resistant standard used for imports. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is the system the U.S. uses to set import tax rates and categories for products, including clothing. The bill does this by deleting a sentence in a note to the clothing chapter of that schedule.

Key points:

• Who is affected: Clothing makers, importers, and retailers; shoppers may see more water-resistant options made without rubber or plastic coatings.
• What changes: The performance test stays the same, but the water resistance no longer has to come from a rubber or plastic application to the fabric.
• When: Would take effect after it becomes law; the change is made by removing a sentence in the tariff schedule note for garments.